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Prada's First Black Model in 19 Years

15:46

This is quite a huge step for Prada. For the first time in almost two decades, the fashion label has cast a black model to be the face of their advertising campaign.

Malaika Firth is the first black person to have such a prominent role in the company since Naomi Campbell way back in 1994. The talented model who was raised in Essex, Britain, was born to a British father and a Kenyan mother.

The fashion industry has had a number of problems with race - whether it's the under-representation of models of colour on the world's biggest runways, or the spate of ignorant but widely copied trends like blackface references in editorials.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Malaika said she was "completely ecstatic" when she found out she had secured the campaign and was "extremely proud and happy" to be stepping into Campbell's shoes.